If you see something go on sale on Tuesday, you head over to my ONLINE STORE to purchase it as soon as you can to have the best chance of getting it at the sale price. You may want to Subscribe to My Blog by Email to ensure you know which items are on sale, as soon as possible each week! NOTE: the deadline to have your order finalized for each set of Weekly Deals is 11:50pm MT each Monday night.

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Before I say anything else, I would urge you to purchase any of Stampin' Up!'s Photopolymer Stamp Sets that you like, as soon as you see them. You will be doing yourself a big favor, as two of the photopolymer sets have already sold out and are no longer in production. One of them was only available for several weeks! With that disclaimer out of the way, let me introduce you to Countless Sayings 1 and Countless Sayings 2...first some adorable simple samples, and then more info on each individual set:

These fun samples were stamped on Whisper White card stock, which you can buy already cut and scored to card size as Whisper White Cut & Ready Card Bases. Be sure to stamp outline images with the StazOn Jet Black Ink Pad, to avoid smearing. Instead of colored markers, you may want to purchase all the following ink pads, and use Blender Pens to color your images with ink from the ink pad. That way you get more bang for your buck! To recreate these cards in the colors shown, you'll want to get the Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad, Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad, Crisp Cantaloupe Classic Stampin' Pad, Pink Pirouette Classic Stampin' Pad, Pistachio Pudding Classic Stampin' Pad, and the Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad.

Countless Sayings 1 Photopolymer Stamp Set includes 17 separate stamps, and Clear Blocks blocks A, B, E, G, H, and I are recommended. This set is obviously great for Valentine's Day, but also for any other love notes, and even for scrapbooking baby pages. There are many saying combinations you can pick out from this set, making it quite versatile. You could stamp "Love Your Face", "Love You This Much", On the other hand, you could stamp "Love Stinks", for a sympathetic breakup card, or, "Your Face Stinks", when you get dumped! Just kidding on that last one, but it is kinda funny.

Countless Sayings 2 Photopolymer Stamp Set includes 23 separate stamps, and Clear Blocks A, B, E, G, H, and I are also recommended for use with this set. (Don't forget, you can get the Clear Block Bundle with ALL sizes, at 15% OFF every day) This set is also great for Valentine's Day, and is maybe a little more huggy-kissy, and couple-centered, but it also has some greetings you can use for birthdays, or even wedding pages.

Honestly, I would just go ahead and grab both these stamp sets, and then your options are expanded. While you're at it, check out my personal favorite photopolymer stamp set (well, my favorite of the ones still available), Another Thank You Photopolymer Stamp Set. You'll want to make sure you have Clear Blocks A, B, C, D, and F for this set. With all three of these stamp sets, you could make cards and scrapbook pages for weddings, babies, birthdays...and you could stamp a set of Thank You cards as gifts for these occasions!

You can find these products in my ONLINE STORE--if the product does not have a direct link, just search my store for the product name listed in bold. If you have any problems finding anything, please email me and I am happy to give you direct links, or enter your order for you on my entry screen. I am also happy to help you brainstorm other creative ideas and color combinations for your projects.

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

The ordering/modification deadline for Paper Pumpkin this month has arrived! Subscribe to get a crafting kit delivered right to your doorstep every month (or just click that link to get more info). There is no obligation, you can skip a month or cancel at any time.

The first month you take shipment, you will get the Welcome Kit, and each month after that you get a surprise project :-D Check out the video below to see the cute project we got in November...the garland of stars made these cards a HUGE hit! [If you are getting this blog post in email, click on the link for the title of the post, to view the video in your browser.]If you want to get your first month of Paper Pumpkin in December, you will need to sign up at the link below no later than 11:59pm MT December 10th:

Current Paper Pumpkin Subscribers: Remember to sign in and manage your account HERE by 11:59pm MT on December 10th, if you would like the changes to take place this month. You can Skip, Change the Quantity of kits you receive, update your payment and/or shipping information, or Cancel.

Get UP TO 80% OFF in the Clearance Rack, with newly added and newly marked down items, starting TODAY! There are tons of fun products in there, like fabric, buttons, dies, embossing folders, ribbon, trim, papers, and there are even DISCOUNTED STAMPS!!! All items are WHILE SUPPLIES LAST so get over there NOW and grab what you want. There are some great holiday items in there, and if you grab them from my ONLINE STORE immediately, you should receive them with just enough time to make some cards or gifts with them for this year!

If you see something go on sale on Tuesday, you head over to my ONLINE STORE to purchase it as soon as you can to have the best chance of getting it at the sale price. You may want to Subscribe to My Blog by Email to ensure you know which items are on sale, as soon as possible each week! NOTE: the deadline to have your order finalized for each set of Weekly Deals is 11:50pm MT each Monday night.

Saturday, December 7, 2013

So, I showed you a Divine Gift Box Card, and a Divine Christmas Tree Card previously. I went back and did a little bit of redesigning, to make each card in both color combos, to give you more options. They both feature the Christmas Tagables photopolymer stamp set, which is available a few different ways. Check out the Pop & Place Holiday Gift Tags promotion for complete info. Click on any picture to see it larger:

These cards are designed around Divine Mini Milk Chocolate Pieces, and the Divine Mini Dark Chocolate Pieces are the same size, so you can use them interchangeably. On the Gift Box Cards, each chocolate has a tab to pull it out. On the Christmas Tree Card, you can access both sides of the top chocolate, so no need for pull tabs there. However, there are pull tabs on each of the lower chocolates. You can find the chocolates at DivineChocolate.com or at SERRV.org. Currently, they are available only in 150 piece boxes. Don't worry, you will use/eat ALL of them in no time! I will be showing you more treat holders using them for the holidays, and even into Valentine's Day.

Both color combos of the Gift Bow Card use a Stampin' Sponge to sponge around the layered edges of the Artisan Label Punch Bow (click for tutorial). Both color combos of the Christmas Tree Card use the Merry Minis Punch Pack, to punch out the star for the top of the tree. [Merry Minis Punch Pack is on sale through 11:50pm MT on December 9th!] For the card bases, you can use either card stock from a package, or our new Cut & Ready Card Bases--the colors for my card bases are Crumb Cake and Smoky Slate.

Let's say you didn't want to make the Gift Box Card...maybe you only want to make the Christmas Tree Card. That's totally cool, each set of cards purposefully uses different patterns from its featured paper stack. Each stack has 48 sheets in it, so, in the case of the Red/Green tree, you could make 24 trees using the Season of Style DSP Stack's chevron pattern paper, and make another 24 of them using the dotted paper (shown on the Gift Box Card). Similarly, you can make 24 of the Blue/Gray trees as shown, and make another 24 using the Winter Frost DSP Stack's 6-point star pattern. You can easily tuck these cards in standard envelopes, but I think you will have to pay extra postage for the thickness if you mail them, so I would go ahead and put them in a padded envelope for better protection.

I've had to redo the tutorial for the cards since I've redesigned them to more efficiently use the patterned papers, but hope to have that up this weekend--thanks for your patience!

Friday, December 6, 2013

With all the holiday hoopla going on, December birthdays are sometimes forgotten. Believe me, my birthday is on the 24th, and half the time I forget it myself! This is a card we made at a Workshop last month, featuring the Sketched Birthday stamp set (available in wood-mount, clear-mount, and Spanish). I think it's cute enough for a girl, but without any frills that would preclude it being given to a boy. The Off the Grid stamp (wood-mount only) was stamped in Encore Gold Metallic Ink in the background for a subtle but festive sheen.

This card was difficult to photograph, and accurately capture the play between the colors. In real life, it's very striking--or at least I think so! As always, I could have used a bajillion different supplies, but I tried to keep it simple. For instance, I knew I wanted to color the main image, so I tried to keep the markers mostly from the 2013-2015 In Color Marker Assortment. I did add the Daffodil Delight marker so I could color the cake, but that one is available individually, and I also used it to ink up the stamp on the Daffodil Delight card stock circle at the top right. If you look closely at the candle, you'll see I dabbed a tiny bit of Crisp Canteloupe marker in the flame, too. You could make the card instantly girly by subbing in Strawberry Slush everywhere I used Coastal Cabana. Also, the sayings in this stamp set can be cut out with the Bitty Banners Framelits, but I just hand trimmed mine with Paper Snips.

If you see something go on sale on Tuesday, you head over to my ONLINE STORE to purchase it as soon as you can to have the best chance of getting it at the sale price. You may want to Subscribe to My Blog by Email to ensure you know which items are on sale, as soon as possible each week! NOTE: the deadline to have your order finalized for each set of Weekly Deals is 11:50pm MT each Monday night.

Monday, December 2, 2013

Do you love multipurpose products and projects? Then this blog post is for you--buy these supplies for Christmas holiday occasions, and use leftovers from those SAME products, for Valentine's Day (reds & neutral colors) and even St. Patrick's Day (greens). If you are viewing this blog post the day I published it, you can get the products marked with a red asterisk (*) at a discount through 11:50pm MT TONIGHT (December 2nd, 2013):

Stamp-a-Tag Kit: ink and twine in Cherry Cobbler and Old Olive...the "to" stamp even has a little heart shape in it--perfect for Valentine's treat tags! Save the Old Olive striped twine for St. Patrick's Day projects.

*Old Olive Simply Styled Embellishments: Tuck these away to give out on St. Patrick's Day, to make your friends instantly un-pinchable! Attach to a lapel, button placket, pocket, shoelace, etc.

*Snowflake Season Simply Sent Card Kit: These would make cute Valentines, with just a little dressing up. Maybe use the Hearts Collection Framelits to die cut a heart from Real Red card stock to layer over the doily, and then stamp on the included die-cut starburst centers using Real Red Ink with the "Made With Love" image from our new Love You More stamp set (also in clear-mount and French), and layer that on top. Tie the red/white striped twine in a bow at the top, instead of leaving it in a loop for an ornament. Stamp the "love" bird (or other image) from the Love You More stamp set in Real Red ink on the outside of the envelope. Tuck a small, flat candy bar or chocolate square in the envelope, before giving to your sweeties :-)

Merry Little Christmas Simply Created Card Kit: Another cute Valentine, with just a tad bit of imagination, but if you cut away the lower (unseen) part from the red/white polka dot envelope liner, into skinny strips, you can cover each red/green stripe on the other patterned paper strip and make Valentine cards! Use a Valentine's stamp set (maybe choose from our Whole Lot of Love products) on the white banner piece of the card, and save the green/white striped Baker's Twine for St. Patrick's Day treats.

This same idea applies to specially wrapped holiday candies, too. Try to grab those chocolates with the solid color red, green, and silver (or gold) wrappers, with neutral patterns like dots and stripes, instead of purchasing those with Christmas patterns or images on them. If you are making treat holders for the holidays, ensure the treats are removable without damage to the project or the candies. In other words, make treat holders that do not require you to permanently glue down the candies, such as an envelope into which you tuck the treat, or a box with a refastenable or removable device for opening. That way, you can take the candies out from projects you didn't end up gifting, and separate the candies into the colors you want to use for Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day. (Store them in air-tight containers to keep them fresh.) Need some project options? Just email me or leave a comment, and I'll send some ideas your way!!!

Check out everything else that's available in my ONLINE STORE.
And while you're there...

Yes, yes, I know...you don't even have your Christmas cards made yet, and you don't even want to *think* about Valentine's Day! But we crafters have to plan ahead, so I just want to plant a seed at the back of your mind, by sharing the Whole Lot of Love products which are available for order from December 1st, 2013 through January 27th, 2014 (or while supplies last!!!). Click any image below to see it larger.

Did you catch that last little note in the top paragraph? I put it in red and italics, so I hope you did! This applies mostly to the pre-printed items, but as the end of the promotion approaches, it is feasible that even the exclusive stamp sets will not be reproduced. PLEASE do not wait til the last minute to grab these products if you want them! In fact, a Stampin' Up! Gift Certificate* would be awesome to give or receive, to scoop up some of these babies before they are gone!

One reason I like to plant seeds for Valentine's Day before the holidays, is to bring up the fact that you can plan some of your crafting supply purchases to carry over into the new year. Huh? What is she talking about? Stay tuned for my next blog post where I will feature some projects and products with multi-occasion qualities!

You can find all these supplies, and more, in my ONLINE STORE. And while you're there...

Sunday, December 1, 2013

In honor of Cyber Monday, on Monday, December 2nd Get 30% OFF these items for ONE DAY ONLY! If you can get only one item, I highly recommend the Envelope Liners Framelit Dies. They are not just for lining envelopes--they make super cute gift card holders, treat holders, and you can even make an awesome mini bag with "handles"!!! Seriously, the list of ideas grows pretty much daily.

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Why, oh why, do I always get new, irresistible ideas at times that I should be doing things OTHER than playing with paper?? I saw this in my head and had to make it--I have no idea why I didn't make it last year, but I honestly don't think it would have come out exactly how I envisioned it without our new Baked Brown Sugar card stock. And we didn't have that last Christmas...so that will be my excuse ;-)

I apologize in advance for this hit & run project, but there was no way that my cat Gizmo was going to let me get a tutorial posted today*. I barely got a picture of the little reindeer before Gizmo pushed me out of the way. I guess I was squealing too much at the reindeer, and Gizmo got jealous. Silly cat, it's only paper.

*If you can get going with just some of the measurements, take a peek at THIS PDF and you can at least get the instructions for how to make the box, how to score the Top Note, and how to do the basic box and head assembly.

You can find all these supplies, and more, in my ONLINE STORE. And while you're there...

If you see something go on sale on Tuesday, you head over to my ONLINE STORE to purchase it as soon as you can to have the best chance of getting it at the sale price. You may want to Subscribe to My Blog by Email to ensure you know which items are on sale, as soon as possible each week! NOTE: the deadline to have your order finalized for each set of Weekly Deals is 11:50pm MT each Monday night.

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Please respect the time and effort put into the creation of this blog and the stamping ideas therein, by refraining from copyright abuse of the images or text. All of the rubber stamp images are copyrighted to Stampin' Up!®, all of the photos and scans are copyrighted to me, and all of the hand stamped art is my creation, unless marked otherwise. Please do not pass off this work as your own, or copy and disseminate it for your own personal gain, such as submission for contests or publication, or fee-based classes. If you would like to share a post from my blog, please email your friends a link directly to the post you're excited about. (You can do this by clicking the envelope icon under any post.) And last but not least, if you have any questions or suggestions, please don't hesitate to contact me!

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